Don't Be a Loser. Buy Local on Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day, the average person will spend $116.21 on presents like cards, flowers, lingerie or dinner, for a total of more than $15.7 billion on gifts nationwide.

If each person spent that $116.21 at a locally owned independent business rather than in a national chain, $79 would stay in their community thanks to local payrolls and taxes. More than $10.67 billion would be reinvested in local communities throughout the country. If each person bought their gifts only at national chains instead, that reinvestment number drops to $6.7 billion.